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St. Vincent de Paul workers begin preparing for their Thanksgiving meal distribution
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BATON ROUGE – For nearly 35 years the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has made sure no one has to go without a Thanksgiving meal, and this year will be no different.
Amid the pandemic, the hard workers have found a way to serve free meals this year.
“Between now and Thursday it’s going to be a lot of hours,” said Denise Terrance, the dining room director at St. Vincent de Paul.
The task will be harder this year. The kitchen crew will be preparing 600 meals at St. Vincent de Paul, and 1,800 at the River Center. Typically, 300 volunteers lend a hand, but this year, in order to safely distance, there will only be around 50 volunteers.
“We know what the cause is and we know how much people are in need so that just gives us the strength and incentive to come in here and make it happen,” said Terrance.
Other changes to the holiday event include both dining rooms inside St. Vincent de Paul and the River Center being closed. Instead of dining in people will walk up and get their meals at St. Vincent de Paul from 11:30 to 1p.m., and drive up to the River Center from 11 to 2 p.m.
"Normally it's all you can eat, so we're just going to put double servings for each one of the containers for them to have,” said Terrance.
Though this tradition will look different this year, it's needed more than ever.
"There are no jobs, the stimulus may not come, so if we can feed them on Thursday and have them feel like they still have something to be thankful for then that's what it's all about,” said Terrance.
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